Kouya Shinsei
Kouya Shinsei is a former Onmitsukidō commander. After meeting up with Karen Nagareboshi in the Human World, he works as a salaryman in Akihabara, Japan. However, during Gai Nagareboshi's assault on the Gotei 13, he assists him in his Jinzen training before becoming a major supporting character in "A Certain Unlucky Person". Appearance His most prominent features are his blue hair and a strange marking/tattoo across his right eye. Kouya wears a black jacket with yellow stripes, and a purple shirt with white pants and boots. Under these clothes is a special fighting suit for melee combat designed for his Zanpakutō's special ability, revealing his toned-up body. Personality and Traits Kouya is a seemingly carefree, confident, and somewhat lazy guy. He can often be boisterous and go on about something for some time until he is stopped. Despite this though he is extremely intelligent and is an extremely potent researcher. One of Kouya's most glaring characteristics is his obsession with the Hōgyoku-created Arrancar. In addition, Kouya knows more about the Mototsu then any other single person in the story, as he has almost unrestricted access to Soul Society's information and reports on them and has vigorously studied them himself. Kouya's obsession with the Hōgyoku-created Arrancar is often played for laughs, all of the Arrancar find Kouya annoying and their reactions to his many comments and passes vary from Arrancar to Arrancar. Kouya also, even before having joined with Nika, made his obsessive liking of them well known. Kouya knows when to get serious when faced with an important situation, and will often switch between 'carefree' and 'serious' in an instant, often confusing his opponents. History Recent History Powers and Abilities Master Swordsmanship Specialist: Kouya is a user of Battōjutsu, which usually incorporates multiple cuts after drawing the sword. The emphasis of battōjutsu is on reaction to unknown situations, or reacting to sudden attack. Shunpo Master: Kouya is highly skilled in the use of Shunpo, a high speed movement ability. Kouya has mastered this ability to such an extent that he can appear to be in several places at once and wipe out an entire Onmitsukidō squadron in seconds. He can easily close tremendous gaps of distance in the blink of an eye while remaining undetected. He has mastered all of the Onmitsukidō's speed-oriented techniques. *'Utsusemi' (空蝉; Cicada, referencing their molting): Way of Onmitsu, 3rd of the Shihou. It allows for a movement at great speed, leaving at least one tangible after-image behind. Zanpakutō Zantaiyō (鎖太陽 lit. Slaying Sun) is the name of Kouya's Zanpakutō. When sealed, his Zanpakutō is a standard-looking katana, but oversized with an equally-oversized red sheathe hung by a strap over his right shoulder. It has a rectangular silver hand guard with gently inward-curved edges, a stylized blue flame pattern on the long sides, and a simple decorative slit on the short ones. The handle is blue with two dark red tassels on the end of the handle. Zantaiyō is not a regular Zanpakutō; it was created by the Hōgyoku from Kouya's desire to "have a weapon that can surpass all others", as such the Hōgyoku created Zantaiyō using Ichigo Kurosaki's Zangetsu as a template, as the young Substitute Shinigami had defeated the orb's master, Sōsuke Aizen. Yūrei has stated that if "the slayer of the moon and the slayer of the sun were to battle, then Soul Society would witness a clash unlike any other". Shikai: The Shikai form of Zantaiyō looks like an oversized elegant golden cleaver rather than a formal "katana". He has no tsuba and no proper hilt; what Kouya holds is the cloth-wrapped tang. The sword is as tall as Kouya is, 1.75 meters, and has a black blade with a silver edge. The cloth wrapping on the tang seems to react to Kouya's will, changing length at a thought or twining about the blade in an impromptu sheath. When in combat, the cloth falls away when necessary, shrinking back to a manageable size. The cloth can also be used to swing the weapon like a flail and toss it at opponents for mid-range combat, but this is rarely done. The cloth also can be done to wrap up wounds, but this is also done rarely. Kouya has also on more than one occasion used Zantaiyō's wide blade as a shield from incoming attacks. Shikai Special Ability: Zantaiyōi s is largely used for melee combat but possesses one known special ability. *'Taiyōga Makaishō' (太陽牙魔界衝 lit. Sun Fang Hell Piercer): At the instant of the slash, Zantaiyō absorbs his spiritual energy and releases highly condensed spiritual energy at the tip of the blade, magnifying the slash attack and then flies forward. This slash takes the form of a red crescent moon or in the shape of a wave. The Taiyōga Makaishō is a powerful technique with great force, capable of causing large-scale damage and destruction. While it is currently the only attack Kouya knows from Zantaiyō, Kouya has used this technique in several different manners, such as striking the ground to create an omnidirectional blast to knock away incoming attacks or slashing at the ground to upturn it and crush everything in its path. Bankai: Yomisa Zantaiyō (黄泉鎖太陽 lit. Hell Chain Slaying Sun): Zantaiyō's Bankai is considered completely out of the ordinary for any Zanpakutō. Unlike most Bankai forms, which usually create some sort of massive creature or effect, Kouya's Bankai actually shrinks his sword down to a daitō (Japanese long sword) with a white blade instead. The cross guard has four long abstract and slender prongs bent out to form the shape of the manji (which is the kanji for "ban," meaning "full", as in "full release"). The blade itself can endure even the strongest of attacks, making it quite effective in blocking and deflecting incoming attacks; it can even withstand getting crushed by force. Instead of the cloth his Shikai form had, a short length of chain with a broken link at the end dangles from the base of the hilt. In addition to his sword, Kouya's robe is replaced with a long-sleeved, ankle-length white coat (or shikakushō) with blue lining that is closed at his chest, then left to flare out into ragged ends, with a sleeveless right arm and glove and the additional portion of his Zanpakutō's chain spiraling up the length of his arm with the additonal portion of the chain hanging down freely from his upper arm. This coat is part of Kouya's Bankai and the damage it can take is directly proportionate to the remaining strength and level of Kouya's Reiatsu. Bankai Special Ability: Yomisa Zantaiyō, much like its counterpart, Tensa Zangetsu, is used heavily for melee combat, but also possess a certain special ability. *'Hyper-Speed Combat': Kouya takes all the power of his Bankai and compresses it into a small, condensed form. Then, he uses the power of the Bankai to perform high-speed combat. His new speed is so great, that it also enhances his Flash Step prowess and allows him to create dozens of afterimages to confuse his opponent. *'Enhanced Strength': Kouya's Bankai also allows him to further enhance his natural great strength as shown when a single swing of his sword can level a mountain. He can grab hold of Gunha's Zanpakutō blade with his bare hand without feeling any of the exerted force although that force was capable of doing considerable damage to the surrounding area. He is able to effortlessly break through a #90. Hadō spell Kurohitsugi with his bare hand. *'Enhanced Taiyōga Makaishō': Yomisa Zantaiyō retains the use of Taiyōga Makaishō and can be used in the same manners, but can be used in an enhanced form. When used in Bankai, these potent blasts are white with a blue outline and their path can be controlled, with explosively augmented power and speed. Kouya can also keep Taiyōga Makaishō within Yomisa Zantaiyō to augment his sword swings. *'Enhanced Spiritual Power': His reiatsu is so intense and rough as well as thick and heavy that it can suffocate Humans just by being in the general vicinity of his released Bankai. Both Shinigami and Humans are unable to feel his reiatsu unless he voluntarily lowers his level and allows them to interfere. In the same way that a two-dimensional being is unable to interfere with a third-dimensional being. *'Enhanced Bankai Duration': Furthermore, the fact that all of his energy is "compressed" means that usage of his Bankai doesn't expel as much spiritual power as other Bankai from the point of activation; thus allowing him to use Yomisa Zantaiyō at a much longer duration than any other Bankai users of his level. *'Kyūkyoku no Taiyōga Makaishō' (究極の太陽牙魔界衝, The Ultimate Sun Fang Hell-Piercer): By using this technique, Kouya becomes the Taiyōga (太陽牙, Sun Fang) itself. For the duration of the ability, Kouya’s hair turns white, and becomes waist-length. Dark red bandages form around his body, tightly wrapped around his torso, right arm, and face, ending just beneath his eyes. White flame-like markings spread across his chest and wrap around his left arm, and the remains of a tattered white cloak cover his lower body. In this form, Kouya’s body constantly emits smoky white reiatsu, most of which is focused around his right arm. Being in this form allows Kouya to use Mukeizen. *'Mukeizen' (無炯然, Radiant Sky): Kouya generates a blade of white spiritual energy in his hand and swings it towards the target. Doing so causes a massive veil of white spiritual energy to erupt upwards and approach the target, purifying the sky, and damaging anything caught within the blast. The energy then continues to rise, dissipating into the sky. Trivia *Zantaiyō is a placeholder until PersonaSuperiorDeus can conjure up a better Zanpakutō for Kouya. Category:Persona Superior Deus Category:Male Category:Characters Category:Original Characters